Girls basketball: Lady Marauders cool off Allen, 48-35

FLOWER MOUND - With two teams looking to get out in transition, rebounding was a vital aspect in Friday's non-district contest between Marcus and Allen.

Nine boards apiece from Ashley James and Jenna Davis slanted the edge in Marcus' favor and the Lady Marauders (12-4) carried the advantage to a 48-35 victory over the Lady Eagles (13-4).

Marcus' patented defense also limited the Lady Eagles to 27 percent shooting from the field while the Lady Marauders connected at a 35 percent clip.

"Allen has great shooters, so our biggest concern was contesting their shots and then trying to run off the rebounds," said Fred Jones, Marcus head coach. "We've been focusing on playing a little faster. That was our focus all fall, so we were excited to get out there in a game where we could up-and-down a little bit."

Vanessa Jones paced Marcus in scoring with a game-high 14 points, including three 3-point conversions, while Davis and James had nine and eight, respectively.

For Allen, Anna Horowitz led the way with 13 points and three from deep, while Tammara Turner had six points. The Lady Eagles shot 6-of-26 on 3-pointers as a team and converted five 2-point field goals.

"I thought we executed OK," said Sean Weibling, Allen head coach. "[Marcus] does a great job of taking away the drive. We do have shooters on the floor and I thought they did a decent job of getting out to our shooters. We got some good looks, but went a little cold from three, especially compared to where we have been. The key is if you aren't going to hit the three, you have to get to the rim and get fouled and it's so hard to do against that defense."

Allen got the line for 15 free throws, while Marcus made 20 trips to the charity stripe.

The Lady Eagles shot well early, as 3-pointers from Ericka May and Kayla Bise coupled with an and-1 from Turner gave Allen an 8-2 lead. But Jones answered with a spurt of her own for Marcus, scoring a layup off a steal followed by a pair of long-range connections to put the Lady Marauders back in front, 11-8, a lead Marcus would never relinquish.

In the second quarter, driving layups from Morgan Easley, James and Davis put Marcus up, 22-14.

Jones knocked down her third 3-pointer of the night to start the second half, but it was the only scoring Marcus would do in the quarter as Allen climbed back to within seven at 35-28 following consecutive baskets by McKenzie Martin and Horowitz.

However, the Lady Marauders used a 10-2 spurt in the fourth to pull away.

A sequence in which Taylor Roof grabbed multiple offensive rebounds before getting one to fall sparked the run, which also featured a pair of assists from Sierra Bone to Roof and Jessie O'Malley, respectively.

"We knew the key was to own the rebounds and try to push in transition," Weibling said. "I thought we did a decent job at times, but we didn't box out enough and gave them too many opportunities. If we're going to be able to push and up the tempo, we have to get every rebound."

"That's been a huge focus for us," coach Jones added. "The last couple of games, Jenna Davis and Taylor Roof have been great for us on the boards. Ashley has gotten five or more the last four games and if she got nine tonight, that's even better. That's huge for us."

Coach Jones was also pleased with Marcus' balance and willingness to attack inside.

"We believe with our defense that if we can take care of the ball and be efficient on offense, that it's going to be tough to come back on us," he said. "Offensively, we did a great job of spreading the floor out and taking great shots. Our points in the paint were huge."

Marcus continues at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at McKinney.

"It's a team game for us," Jones said. "We have a lot of girls who can play and we're working on that chemistry. They did a great job tonight."

Allen looks to bounce back at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Flower Mound.

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